Wood for outdoor English Garden Bench

Cedar, locust, ipe … Sikkens Cetol1 is my favorite built up finish (3 coats).

Thank you for your thoughts

I have used ipé for my deck (500 square feet) and all my outdoor furniture. I think it is the absolute best for outdoor use. It will not rot or decay and insects cannot penetrate it. You have the option of putting on a preservative to retain the brown color. You also have the option of leaving it bare. It will turn gray (some people like that) but it will still last forever.

Regarding the preservative, Penofin makes a special preservative for hard exotic woods and you need to apply it every 2 years. I need 2 gallons at $46/each so that is a price consideration.

Note that it is heavy and it is hard on drill bits and router bits. I've never observed it being very hard on saw blades.